Side register control for moving web



Nov. 21, 1961 w. F. HUCK 3,009,664

SIDE REGISTER CONTROL FOR MOVING WEB Filed Aug. 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.34 2 52 56 4 4 I 2 L 28 I :35 ei= 48 f 50 24 I 20 i k g l2 I i E 4 P /Qz I 5 I K 2 8 E L V i A i VALV INVENTORI W. F Huck,

ATTORNEY Nov. 21, 1961 w. F. HUCK 3,009,564

SIDE REGISTER CONTROL FOR MOVING WEB Filed Aug. 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2M0706 11 r f 1 QAEVEQS/NG I CONTIZOlLE/Z //4 MAM lo I\ l. HUTU OFF ' 52//0v r/Melz,

\ INVENTORI W. F. Huck.

ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofitice 3,009,664 Patented Nov. 21, 19613,009,664 SIDE REGISTER CONTROL FOR MOVING WEB William F. Huck, ForestHills, N.Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to William F. Huck, doingbusiness as Huck Company, New York, N.Y.

Filed Aug. 8, 1957, Ser. No. 677,094 2 Claims. (Cl. 242-57.1)

This invention relates-to the maintaining of accurate side register of amoving web, and more particularly to apparatus for sensing variations inthe lateral position of a moving web and automatically adjusting thelateral position to compensate for variations within a relatively widerange.

In the applicants Patent No. 2,779,591, issued January 29, 1957, adevice is described wherein parallel idler rollers are arrangedtransversely on opposite sides of a moving web and are tilted withrespect to the width of the web to move the web laterally and compensatefor web side register deviations. The tilting movement of the rollers iscontrolled by a mechanism Which senses side register variations in termsof the relative position of a edge of the moving web and an orificethrough which a stream of air passes. This side register controlapparatus has small mass and is sensitive and delicately responsivewithin a limited range of deviations from proper side register,providing accurate web side location within its range at all times.However, the apparatus is powerless to compensate for web side registervariations which carry the web outside of the compensating range. Suchdeviation from proper side register may take the form of a continuoustendency of the web to move laterally in one direction. This tendencywould require repeated attempts by the side register compensatingmechanism to maintain the proper side registration, but ultimately theapparatus would reach the limit of its range, at which point theapparatus would be powerless to compensate for further variation in thelateral position of the web.

In the printing, paper and cloth processing, and similar industries, themoving web is generally supplied from a large roll of the web materialsupported on a suitable rollstand. Some of the rollstands in operationheretofore have incorporated manually actuated means for adjusting thelateral position 'of the rolls as the web unwinds, but such means aregenerally crude, requiring frequent adjustment and almost constantattention of the operator. Attempts have been made to provide automaticsystems for adjusting the lateral position of the supply rolls, but suchsystems have operated upon the principle of direct control of therollst-and adjusting means by delicate misalignment sensing devices.Since the web rolls are usually very heavy, often weighing a ton ormore, it has been found impractical to move such heavy masses inresponse to delicate misalignment impulses.

The present invention overcomes the deficiencies and failings of theprior art by taking advantage of the combined eifects of coarse andvernier side register control mechanisms, and it is accordingly aprincipal object of the invention to provide such a system.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the aforesaidtype which is delicately responsive to web side register variationswithin a limited range and which is operative through a coarse sideregister adjustment mechanism to maintain the lateral variations of theweb position within that range.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of theaforesaid type which incorporates a vernier side register controlmechanism of the type employing a pair of rollers engaging the web onopposite sides thereof, and a coarse side register control mechanismwhich operates by varying the lateral position of the web supply roll.

An additional object of the invention is to provide automatic apparatusof the aforesaid type wherein the roll position adjusting mechanism isactuated automatic-ally when the vernier adjustment mechanism reachespredetermined positions within its operating range.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device foradjusting the lateral posit-ion of a web supply roll incrementally withvariable intervals of operation and non-operation.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide automatic apparatus ofthe aforesaid type with provision for manual adjustment when desired.

These and other objects of the invention and the manner in which theyare accomplished will become more readily apparent upon consideration ofthe following detailed description of the invention, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate an exemplaryembodiment, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view, partly in section, of a preferred form of theinvention shown somewhat diagrammatically.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 in thedirection of the arrows, with the supply roll indicated in phantom.

FIGURE 3 is a simplified schematic diagram of an electrical operatingcircuit which may be employed in the system of the invention,

Briefly stated, the objects of the invention are accomplished byproviding a web side register control system which incorpoartes avernier mechanism and a coarse mechanism. The vernier mechanismpreferably includes a pair of parallel rollers arranged transversely ofthe web on opposite sides thereof at a convenient location displacedfrom the web supply roll. The rollers may be tilted with respect to thewidth of the web to cause the moving web to be adjusted in lateralposition to compensate for variations from a desired side register.Variations in lateral position are sensed by a pneumatic mechanism whichadjusts the position of the pair of rollers automatically. The coarsecontrol mechanism operates upon the supply roll itself, adjusting theposition of the supply roll whenever the operation of the verniermechanism is such as to tend to carry it outside of its limited range,within which it is highly sensitive and delicately responsive to webregister deviations. A timer may be provided to impart an incrementalmode of operation to the mechanism for adjusting the lateral position ofthe heavy supply roll, and provision is made for also operating thelatter mechanism in response to manual actuation.

Referring to the drawings, a web 10 is unwound from a supply roll 12 andafter passing over an optional idler roller 13 is moved in the indicateddirection by a pair of drive rollers 14 which rotate in oppositedirections and engage the web on opposite sides as shown in FIGURE 2.The drive mechanism for the web does not per se constitute the inventionand may take any conventional form. The supply roll 12 of web materialis wound on a core 16 supported on conical end pieces 18 which arerotatably mounted on flanged sleeve bearings 20. The bearings are heldin position on a roll supporting shaft 22 by a pair of rings 24 fixed tothe shaft as by set screws 26. Shaft 22 is mounted for motion along itsaxis with respect to a frame 28 by a pair of sleeve bearings 36.

One end of shaft 22 is pivotally connected as by a pin 32 to a lever 34,the shaft end being slotted as shown in FIGURE 2 to accommodate the endof lever 34 and to provide freedom for pivotal motion between the leverand the shaft. Lever 34 is pivoted on a pin 36 at some pointintermediate the ends of the lever, the pin being held by a yoke arm 38pivoted at 49 on the frame 28. The remaining end of lever 34 may beformed as a yoke as shown in FIGURE 2 to support a feed nut 42 throughwhich is threaded a drive screw 44. One end of the drive screw isconnected to a universal joint 46 to which is connected the drive shaft48 of a reversible motor 50 mounted on the frame 28 as indicated. Motor50 may be an electric induction motor of the three-phase wound rotortype, and in a practical form of the invention a motor rate at HP. hasbeen employed successfully.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that energization ofthe motor 50 will cause the feed screw 44 to rotate in one direction orthe other depending upon the direction of rotation of the motor, andthat rotation of the feed screw will cause relative translation of thefeed nut 42 along the screw, tilting lever 34 about its fulcrum 36 andcausing the roll supporting shaft 22 to reciprocate within its sleevebearings 30, thereby changing the lateral position of the supply roll12. Any tendency of the pin 32 to move the shaft 22 laterally due to thepivotal motion of the lever 34 is prevented by pivot-a1 movement of arm38 about pivot 40. It will thus be seen that lever 34 and arm 38constitute a compound mechanical movement for adjusting the position ofshaft 22 along its axis, universal joint 46 accommodating anymisalignment of shaft 48 and feed screw 44. If desired, the feed nut 42may be mounted on lever 34 'for pivotal movement about an axis parallelto the axes of pins 32 and 36. The mechanical advantage of the compoundmovement will be determined by the position of the fulcrum of lever 34and the drive speed ratio of the feed nut with respect to the motor.

As will be explained more fully hereinafter, motor 50 is arranged to beenergized under the control of a pair of switches 52 and 54 which may beconstituted by singlepole single-throw microswitches mounted on a spur55 of the frame 28. The switches are actuated by a cam 56 fixed to abracket 58. Bracket 58 and a companion bracket 60 constitute a supportfor a pair of parallel rollers 62, which, together with other parts tobe described, constitute the vernier adjustment mechanism of theinvention. The rollers 62 are arranged transversely of the web and onopposite sides thereof as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. Suitable bearings(not shown) are provided to allow rotation of rollers 62 about theirrespective axes on the bracket supports 58 and 60. The brackets arepivotally conected at 64 and 66 to a pair of supporting arms 68 and 70,each of which has an end pivotally supported on the frame 28 as at 72and 74. It will be noted that the axes of the arms 68 and 70 convergetoward the rollers as shown in FIGURE 1. Movement of the arms abouttheir pivots 72 and 74 on the frame causes move ment of the rollers 62laterally of the web, and at the same time causes the rollers to tiltwith respect to the width of the web due to the mutual angulation of thearms 68 and 70. For example, if in FIGURE 1 arms 68 and 70 are rotatedclockwise, to the positions indicated by the phantom lines, the rollers62 will tilt counterclockwise, with bracket 58 moving to the left andbracket 60 moving to the right.

Such motion is imparted to the rollers 62 through the connection ofbracket 60 to the rod 76 of a piston (not shown) mounted reciprocauivelywithin a cylinder 78. Cylinder 78 is secured to the frame 28 as by bolts80, and a slot 82 is provided in the frame for the passage of the pistonrod 76. Connection of the piston rod to the bracket 60 may be madethrough a link 84 pivoted at its ends to the rod and the bracket,respectively. Such connection will accommodate misalignment of the axesof the rod 76 and bracket 60 which will occur during the movement of therollers 62 as described.

Movement of the piston of cylinder 78 is controlled by a valve 86interposed within an air conduit 88, one end of which is connected to anair supply (which may be a source of positive or negative air pressure)and the other end of which terminates in an orifice 90 formed in a plate92 supported on the frame 28 by an arm 94.

Orifice 90 in cooperation with the adjacent edge of the web 10constitutes means for sensing the lateral position of the web, the webpassing over the plate 92 as shown in FIGURE 2. When the web sideregister is proper, the web will occlude part (perhaps half) of theorifice 90 and will impede the flow of air through the orifice to orfrom the air supply. Lateral movement of the web with respect to theorifice will vary the amount of occlusion and thereby actuate the valve86 so as to operate the system within cylinder 78 and tilt the rollers62. Tilting of the rollers produces lateral movement of the web, and thesense of tilting in response to a web register deviation of a particulardirection is chosen to cause the web to move laterally in the oppositedirection.

The exact manner in which the web misalignment is sensed and varied bythe vernier control mechanism may be as described in my aforementionedpatent, and the vernier adjusting mechanism may include the features ofair orifice adjustment and piston damping found in that patent as wellas the other refinements described. While the mechanism described in thepatent utilizes a pair of diverging arms for supporting the rollers anda bell crank for connecting the piston to the rollers, it will be seenthat the operation is substantially the same.

The vernier web register control mechanism just described is extremelysensitive and delicately responsive within its operating range. Theoperating range of the mechanism is determined inter alia by the maximumtravel of the piston rod 76 and the angulation of the arms 68 and 70. Atthe extremes of the operating range, the rollers 62 will be tiltedmaximally in opposite senses with respect to the width of the web. Theshape of cam 56 attached to roller supporting bracket 58 is made suchthat when the rollers 62 are tilted to a position near or at the limitof their extreme counterclockwise movement, the arm 54a of switch 54will be deflected sufiiciently by the rise on cam 56 to close theswitch. At or near the extreme clockwise tilting position of the rollers62, the am 520 of switch 52 will be deflected sufiiciently by the riseon cam 56 to close switch 52. It will be recalled that switches 52 and54 are in the energization circuit for motor 50, and the direction ofrotation of the motor 50 is determined by which of switches 52 and 54 isclosed.

Referring to FIGURE 3, motor 50 may be connected to a conventionalthree-phase supply through a conventional reversing control 96. Suchcontrollers are well known and may operate to drive the motor in onedirection when a first control line 98 is energized and in the reversedirection when a second control line 100 is energized, the motorremaining stationary when neither of lines 98 and 100 is energized. Inpractice, the reversing controller may include relays which switch thephase connections of the motor with respect to the supply when therelays are operated. Voltage may be applied to line 98 or from an inputline 102, which in practice, may be one of the three-phase lines, sincethe rclays of the reversing controller 96 will normally be operated bythe potential across two of the phase lines. The input of the circuitwill include a master switch 104 having an off position, an automaticposition, and a manual position. In the off position the blade 106 ofthe switch merely rests on an isolated contact. In the automaticposition the blade connects line 102 to a conductor -8 connected toswitches 52 and 54 in parallel. Neglecting the timer 110 for the moment,it will be seen that with switch 104 in the automatic position, theclosing of switch 52 or switch 54 will energize either line 98 or line100 and will cause motor 50 to operate in one direction of the other.Such energization of motor 50 will cause lateral movement of the supplyroll supporting shaft 22 in the manner previously described, and theconnection of switches 52 and 54 in the circuit is such that the supplyroll is moved in the direction which will bring the lateral position ofthe web back within the range of the vernier adjusting mechanismcomprising the rollers 62.

When heavy rolls of paper or cloth are utilized, it is very difficult toadjust the position of the rolls to the proper degree by operating theadjusting mechanism continuously for as long as one of switches 52 and54 is closed. The inertia of the supply roll (as well as any inherentdelay in the control mechanisms) will tend to cause over-compensation,which is as undesirable as under-compensation. In accordance with theprinciples of the invention, the foregoing problem is solved byimparting an incremental motion to the supply roll to adjust its lateralposition. In the preferred form of the invention, this motion isobtained by utilizing timer 1 10 of convention-al form per se, whichapplies voltage to line 98 or line 100 incrementally as long as theassociated switch 52 or 54 is closed. Thus, in a typical cycle ofoperation, the Vernier adjusting mechanism including the rollers 62 willmove to a position near a limit of its operating range and will closeeither switch 52 or switch 54. The closing of one of these switches willenergize the timer 110 which will begin a cycle of operation and apply avoltage from line 102 to the appropriate line 98 or 100, operating motor50 and moving the shafit 22 of the supply roll. When the timer reaches apredetermined point in its cycle of operation, it will disconnect line98 or 100 from line 102 notwithstanding the fact that the associatedswitch 52 or 54 remains closed. Motor 50 will thus be energized for aninterval and then de-energized. If, by virtue of such operation, thelateral position of the web is adjusted sufliciently to cause thesensing device (comprising the orifice 90 of the pneumatic system) tomove the Vernier adjusting mechanism (comprising the rollers 62) enoughto open the previously closed switch 52 or switch 54, the timer 110 willbe de-energized, and motor 50 will remain de-energized until asubsequent closing of switch 52 or switch 54. If however, after apredetermined interval of non-energization of the motor 50, asdetermined by the timer 110, the switch 52 or 54 remains closed, thetimer will again energize motor 50 for a predetermined interval andlater will again de-energize the motor for a predetermined interval.

It will thus be apparent that the roll will be adjusted laterally byincrements, and that adequate time will be allowed to compensate for theinertia of the roll and any inherent time lag in the Vernier operatingmechanism, so that the roll will not be moved laterally any more than isabsolutely necessary to bring the Vernier mechanism back within itsoperating range. The timer may be constructed so that the length of theoperating and non-operating intervals for the motor 50 are adjustable soas to accommodate rolls of different weight, for example. The timer maybe of the drum type, for example, having adjustable length conductingsegments that are spaced to provide the periods as set forth above.

When a supply roll is initially placed on the rollstand it may bedesirable to position the same initially before commencing automaticoperation, orindependently even after automatic operation has begun.This may be accomplished in the system of the invention by providing apair of manually actuated switches 112, 114 (FIG. 3) which are connectedto lines 98 and 100, respectively, and in parallel to the manualterminal of switch 104. When switch 104 is placed in its manualposition, either of switches 1'12 and 1.14 may be closed manually tooperate the motor in the corresponding direction of rotation for as longas the switch is held closed. In practice, operation of the automaticweb positioning apparatus may be deferred until the drive means 14reaches its proper operating speed, by providing a solenoid controlledvalve 116 in the air supply line 88, the solenoid being energized underthe control of a switch which closes when the proper operating speed isreached.

Instead of a single timer 110, two timers may be employed, these beingarranged so that one controls the duration of the time that motor 50 isenergized or on, and the other controls the duration that it is off, inwhich case the second timer will be activated when the first onecompletes its on timing function. The actual durations of the on and offperiods so established will depend upon the particular installation, sothat it is very desirable to provide independent control of the on andoff intervals. For a typical installation in which the rollstand carriesthree rolls each weighing a ton or more, an on period of 0.3 seconds andan olf period of 10 seconds was found satisfactory, but as stated above,the durations can best be established for each machine in the light ofexperience.

It should be understood that while the invention as shown and disclosedherein has been described with reference to a Web unwinding from asupply roll, the principles of the invention are similarly applicable tothe case of a web rewinding onto a supply roll.

While a preferred form of the invention has been shown and described, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made inthis form of the invention without departing from the principles andspirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appendedclaims. For example, in some instances the web may be wound onto ratherthan off of the roll. Accordingly, the foregoing embodiment of theinvention is to be considered illustrative, rather than restrictive, andmodifications which come within the meaning and range of equivalency ofthe claims are included therein.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for maintaining the side register of a moving web beingdrawn from a supply roll, comprising means for supporting the supplyroll for rotation and for lateral movement along its axis of rotation, atransversely extending roller frictionally engageable with the web,means supporting the roller for rotation about its axis and for limitedangular movement of its axis to change the direction of travel of theweb, means for sensing a variation in either direction of the locationof the side edge of the web and moving the roller supporting means andthe roller so as to move the web laterally in a direction opposed to thevariation, and additional means operable only when a limit of movementof the roller supporting means is reached, to shift the supply rollsupporting means laterally in increments in a direction opposite to thevariation, with a time interval between incremental movements to preventover-compensation by the additional means.

2. Apparatus for maintaining the side register of a moving web beingdrawn from a supply roll, comprising means for supporting the web supplyroll for rotation, additional means spaced from the roll supportingmeans and operating to sense movement of the web laterally out of adesired path of travel and to move the web within a narrow range in thereverse direction whereby small deviations in side edge registry may becorrected, said additional means including a web-engaging roller and anangularly movable support therefor, power means including a reversibleelectric motor for moving the roll supporting means laterally to effecta relatively wide lateral movement of the web in the direction of thedesired path of travel, the roller support being operable only when itreaches its limit of motion to actuate said power means; and timingmeans for controlling the operation of the power means for moving theroll-supporting means laterally and incrementally so as to effectmovements of predetermined duration and stoppages of predeterminedduration, to prevent substantial over-compensation by the lateralmovement of the roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

